PHEW, for a while there, I thought the Nets’ latest farce would never end.

Not that Byron Scott’s inescapable conclusion, or his eviction without so much as inhaling the scent of a contract offer past 2003-04, is dimly surprising.

Rod Thorn’s self-defeating decision to feed Scott to Jason Kidd without the clout or a moat of an extension, alerted everybody that it was open season and Scott was fair game. Despite coming off consecutive flings with the NBA Finals, the Dodgers had a better shot of seeing Brooklyn than Scott. And his chances of being rehired were at best pretend.

Why Thorn didn’t have the guts to get it over with during the offseason is on him should the Nets – flaunting the NBA’s seventh highest payroll, $64.3 million – be unable to regroup sufficiently in the second half to defend their Eastern crown with honor. On second thought, it’s either on Thorn or the person who leaked last summer’s contention that Kidd wouldn’t re-sign unless Scott was expelled.

If I didn’t know better, I’d accuse Scott of diagramming the ultra-suave play; once that evil perception was put out there, Thorn was all but forced to keep Lord Byron in order to shield Kidd from being vilified by the media for undermining yet another coach.

Still, had Thorn made a command judgment immediately after the season, and replaced Scott with the bountifully preferred Eddie Jordan, he could’ve defused the situation before it became explosive. Except for one minor snag; everyone loved the Nets’ assistant – players, press and people throughout the organization – exempting Thorn.

Trust me, if Thorn believed in Jordan (the way he does workaholic interim Lawrence Frank) he never would have permitted him to get away to Washington. If Thorn really felt Jordan deserved the promotion, at the very least, a pre-nuptial agreement would’ve been drawn up and executed upon Scott’s dismissal.

That wasn’t the case. Sources say the two had a falling out soon after Thorn arrived in New Jersey. Though they maintained a positive front afterward, Jordan never recouped his boss’ resonant support.

What a costly shame! Had Thorn bumped Scott for Jordan the day after the Spurs bumped off the Nets, you know damned well Kidd would’ve re-signed the moment the free-agent law allowed. Moreover, he wouldn’t have demanded Alonzo Mourning be brought aboard for $22.6M. Meanwhile, only a precious few Nets employees had Scott’s back. Disapproval for his work ethic, dissatisfaction for his basketball IQ during crunch-time huddles and disloyalty raged unchecked.

For the last couple of years, a salacious story has circulated throughout the league and into the college ranks about subordinates setting up Scott with doctored game tapes. Convinced he never so much as took a peek, they’d position the tape 10 minutes or so into the first quarter. When they got it back it was at the same spot.

You almost never hear anything so hurtful about someone. Paul Silas’ reputation took a pounding when Pat Riley put out the word he was lazy, which translated into many lost head-coaching jobs. And, the thing is, nobody has ever confirmed the above subversion to me.

Nonetheless, the rumble is rampant. And the mere suggestion that something like that actually happened is enough to stain Scott with disrespect for many coaching interviews to come. In fact, there was so much negativity swirling and so much damage to control it’s a wonder Scott lasted as long as he did.

Winning a franchise-high 149 games apparently had something to do with it. We now know winning isn’t everything. It also helps to be prepared, not exactly one of Scott’s priorities, chant the Nets, not just Kidd, who’ll take the brunt of Bye-Ron’s exorcism from East Rutherford. Making it up doesn’t earn a faithful following or retain its attention. Not everybody in the East can have the job security of Terry Stotts.

“Byron lost the team long ago,” professes a Nets’ hall monitor, who adds the move has absolutely nothing to do with the incoming ownership. Thorn evidently had 100 percent authority to fire Scott for the past year, if he saw fit. “There’s no reason to keep the coach once the players turn a deaf ear. When Lawrence Frank talks, they listen.”